''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD

Chief of Police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in the city. The film's title is possibly a reference to music critic Lester Bangs' 1970 two-part review of

the Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

' album '' Fun House'', for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'' magazine, where Bangs quotes a friend who had said the popularity of the Stooges signaled "the decline of Western civilization". Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash's reading of Oswald Spengler's ''Der Untergang des Abendlandes'' ('' The Decline of the West''). In '' We Got the Neutron Bomb'', an oral history of the L.A. punk rock scene collected by

Marc Spitz Marc Spitz (October 2, 1969 – February 4, 2017) was an American music journalist, writer and playwright. Spitz's writings on rock and roll and popular culture appeared in ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' (where he was a Senior Writer) as well as ''Th ...

, Claude Bessy, aka Kickboy, claims that he came up with the title. The film is the opening act of a trilogy by Spheeris, depicting music scenes in Los Angeles during the late 20th century. The second film, '' The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years'' (1988), covers the Los Angeles heavy metal scene of 1987–1988. The third film, '' The Decline of Western Civilization Part III'' (1998), chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers in the late 1990s. In 2016, ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Featuring concert footage of Los Angeles punk bands and interviews both with band members, the publishers of ''

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, and with the punks who made up their audience, the film offers a look into a

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time. The promotional poster for ''The Decline'' (and the record cover of the soundtrack album) featured a close-up frame of Germs singer Darby Crash lying on stage with his eyes closed. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death). Bands included are Black Flag, Germs, X, Alice Bag Band, the

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

Catholic Discipline Catholic Discipline was an American punk rock (first-generation new wave) band, formed in 1979 in San Francisco, California, by '' Slash Fanzine'' editor Claude Bessy. The initial line-up of the band featured Bessy on vocals, Phranc on guitar, R ...

, and

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

. The Germs' performance was replicated in the 2007 Darby Crash biopic '' What We Do Is Secret''.

Performances

* Alice Bag Band (

Alice Bag Alicia "Alice" Armendariz (born 7th November 1958), also known as Alice Bag, is an American punk rock singer and author. She is the lead vocalist and co-founder of Bags (Los Angeles band), the Bags, one of the earliest punk bands to form in Lo ...

, Craig Lee, Rob Ritter, Terry Graham) ** "Gluttony" ** "Prowlers in the Night" * Black Flag (

Ron Reyes Ron Reyes (born July 24, 1960) is an American musician most noted as the second singer for the Los Angeles punk rock group Black Flag, which he fronted from 1979 to 1980 and again in 2013. Reyes joined Black Flag after original vocalist Keith ...

, Greg Ginn, Chuck Dukowski,

Robo Julio Roberto Valverde Valencia (born 1955), better known by his stage name Robo, is a Colombian Americans, Colombian-American drummer. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with punk band Black Flag (band), Black Flag, and more recently ha ...

) ** "Depression" ** "Revenge" ** "White Minority" *

(

Keith Morris Keith Morris (born September 18, 1955) is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at t ...

Greg Hetson Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for the influential punk rock bands Circle Jerks and Bad Religion. He is known for his high energy stage antics which people have coined the term "The He ...

, Roger Rogerson,

Lucky Lehrer Keith "Lucky" Lehrer (born 18 April 1958) is a drummer from Los Angeles, California associated with several influential LA punk rock bands. He was originally trained in jazz then played in a number of LA punk rock bands, particularly the Circle ...

) ** "Back Against the Wall" ** "Beverly Hills" ** "I Just Want Some Skank" ** "Red Tape" ** "Wasted" *

( Claude Bessy,

Phranc Phranc (born Susan Gottlieb; August 28, 1957), is an American singer-songwriter whose career began playing in several bands in the late 1970s Los Angeles punk rock scene. Her musical style later shifted during the 1980s as a solo artist, into a ...

Robert Lopez Robert “Bobby” Lopez (born February 23, 1975) is an American songwriter for musicals and playwright, best known for co-creating '' The Book of Mormon'' and '' Avenue Q'', and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films '' ...

, Rick Jaffe, Craig Lee) ** "Barbee Doll Lust" ** "Underground Babylon" *

(

Lee Ving Lee James Jude Capallero (born April 10, 1950), also known as Lee Ving, is an American guitarist, singer, and actor. Ving is the frontman of the Los Angeles-based hardcore punk band Fear. As an actor, Ving played topless club owner Johnny C. i ...

, Philo Cramer, Derf Scratch, Spit Stix) ** "Beef Bologna" ** "I Don't Care About You" ** " I Love Livin' in the City" ** "Let's Have a War" ** "Fear Anthem" * Germs ( Darby Crash, Pat Smear, Lorna Doom,

Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for ''The Arizona Republic'' newspaper who was known for his coverage of organized crime in and around Phoenix, Arizona, especially by the Chicago Ou ...

) ** "Manimal" ** "Shutdown" ** "Richie Dagger's Crime" * X (

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old m ...

Billy Zoom Billy Zoom (born Stuart Tyson Kindell; February 20, 1948) is an American guitarist, best known as one of the founders of the punk rock band X. Early life The son of a big band woodwinds player, Kindell began playing a variety of instruments, i ...

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

, D. J. Bonebrake) ** "Beyond and Back" ** "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene" ** "Nausea" ** "Unheard Music" ** "We're Desperate" ** "Sex and Dying in High Society"

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released in December 1980 by

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative music, before its eventual acq ...

on LP. In the late 1990s it was released on CD as well. Germs singer Darby Crash appears on the soundtrack album cover. He died shortly before the film was released, though the promotional images for the film and album release had been designed before his death.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decline of Western Civilization I, The 1981 films American documentary films Films directed by Penelope Spheeris Documentary films about punk music and musicians Punk films 1981 soundtrack albums 1981 documentary films Documentary films about Los Angeles Music of Los Angeles United States National Film Registry films 1981 directorial debut films X (American band) 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language documentary films

Plot

Performances

Soundtrack

See also

References

External links